Follow by Email

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Book Study--Post #5

This post is part of a series of posts
sponsored by SCBWI Florida Tampa Bay area writers. We invite you to
join us in this online
book study of THE WRITER’S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS, Third Edition
by Christopher Vogler.

Post #5

Book 2, pages 81-114

Contributor: Sue LaNeve

Rob Sanders inspired the writers of Tampa Bay with
this Call to Adventure, inspiring me to follow Christopher Vogler into Book
Two, Stages of the (Writer’s) Journey.

Before beginning a tale, we storytellers have
significant choices that set the mood by which our readers will experience our work.
Vogler cites director Max Reinhardt’s creation of atmosphere before the curtain
goes up with the title, promotion, music, lighting, and costumed ushers, all
affecting the audience’s experience and expectations. Similarly in publishing,
our title, opening image, whether or not we use a prologue all possess
metaphorical power to set the stage.

-Vogler illustrates how a title and its
graphical representation –in this case, the words God and Father and a
puppeteer’s strings which describe Don Corleone’s power in the Godfather—can be
a multi-leveled metaphor.

-In the film Unforgiven,
the opening scene alludes to backstory and what is to follow when Clint
Eastwood is seen digging his wife’s grave.

-Regarding a prologue Vogler states that “the
needs of the story will always dictate the best approach.” Prologue may provide
backstory, set mood, and hint of extraordinary events to follow. Some prologues
seek to disorient the reader, helping them to accept incredible events to
follow. Once we make these opening choices, we begin our tale by establishing the
multi-functional

ORDINARY WORLD

How do we differentiate between dark and light
if we have one without the other?Vogler
says we must know our hero’s ORDINARY WORLD to appreciate her journey into
SPECIAL WORLDS, and that we make it much different from the special world “so
audience and hero will experience a dramatic change when the threshold is
finally crossed.”

Though seemingly boring, the ORDINARY WORLD has
significant functions. It is the stage for:

-the conflicts and problems the hero will face
in the special world

-foreshadowing characters or events to follow.

-the story’s action and dramatic questions whose
answers will ultimately solve the hero’s inner and outer problems. Both must
exist for the characters to seem fully fleshed out.

-the hero’s entrance—her clothes, actions, mood,
goals will affect her relationship with the reader. Her actions should echo
character and her normal attitude, setting the stage for future problems and/or
solutions—unless, of course, you are purposefully trying to disguise her true
nature from the reader.

-a place to express the story’s theme—what you
are trying to say, the “underlying statement or assumption about an aspect of
life.” Vogler believes it should be stated in Act One in some way and set the
stage for everything else to echo it.

Vogler advises us to create a hero who is not
necessarily likeable, but relatable so the reader will project “a part of their
ego in the character.” Give them universally experienced goals, drives, desires
or needs.

Our hero may lack something—compassion, or
perhaps a mate or parent. Like Aristotle’s Greek theory of tragedy, every
fleshed-out hero has some tragic flaw that shows his humanity. It could be a
wound, either physical or emotional to make them sympathetic and interesting. We
writers may keep this wound secret from our audience, while still creating a
character with a personal history and sense of realism. Says Vogler, “We all
bear some scars from past humiliations, rejections, disappointments,
abandonments, and failures.”

We must know early on what’s at stake if the
hero succeeds or loses and we must make it significant enough to make the reader
care.

Finally, regarding backstory and exposition, Vogler
discusses how difficult it is to do this elegantly and prefers to let the
reader work to figure it out through the course of the story.

THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

Within the ORDINARY WORLD, the “seeds of
change” are waiting for a something “to germinate” them—what Joseph Campbell
termed THE CALL TO ADVENTURE (aka the trigger, catalyst, inciting or initiating
event.)

It may be:

-a declaration of some sort

-a stirring within the hero

-a temptation to travel or be seduced

-unconscious metaphorical imagery and dreams

-synchronous ideas or events that take on
meaning

-the last straw that kicks the hero into motion

The “CALL” may:

-come from a HERALD and/or MENTOR archetype

-present the hero with an invitation or
challenge

-kick away the crutches that keep the Hero from
taking risks

-create disorientation and discomfort necessary
for growth

-be a villain surveying a hero’s
territory—alerting the audience, more than the hero, that something is about to
change

-be from a lack or need presented to the hero

-result from the hero having no other choices
but to change or create change.

Some stories may have more than one CALL

REFUSAL OF THE CALL

The hero has received the CALL, but what will
she do? This stop in the action:

-conveys that inherent danger awaits our hero

-may express our hero's reluctance from having
learned her lessons

Volger says audiences enjoy seeing the
reluctance overcome.

Even a hero who is a willing Seeker faces
refusal to the CALL, often by others who warn of what’s ahead—THRESHHOLD
GUARDIANS—who:

-block the hero from beginning her journey

-test the hero’s commitment

-create drama for the audience by asking if our
hero is capable of facing what’s ahead

-may have previously been the hero’s MENTOR

We writers face conflicting CALLS:

1.to experience life fully to find material for our work, and

2.to cut ourselves off to create it.

We also must contend with the pull of our own
ORDINARY WORLDS that try to distract us and/or keep us safe from taking risks,
leading us to refuse the CALL.

In my current work in progress, I feel the CALL
TO ADVENTURE from synchronous sources, while daily facing my own tendency to
REFUSE THE CALL.

Meet
Today’s Contributor—Sue LaNeve

Sue
LaNeve is both an author and a ship's Captain who lives aboard a Kadey Krogen
trawler, Freebird, currently docked in St. Petersburg, FL. She is a graduate of
The Vermont College of Fine Arts where she earned an MFA in Writing for Children
and Young Adults and a membership in S3Q2, the Super Secret Society of Quirk and
Quill. An extended sea journey encouraged her decision to self-publish her debut
novel, SPANKY: A SOLDIER’S SON, which has earned decent reviews and a Bronze
Medal from the Military Writers Society of America. You can and learn more about
her at www.MyClimbingTree.com
and read her blog posts at www.QuirkandQuill.com.

About Me

Rob Sanders is a writer who teaches and a teacher who writes. He has worked as an educational consultant, editor, editorial manager, product designer, trainer, public speaker, and has been a mentor to many writers. Each day Rob teaches and learns with kids at Mintz Elementary School in Brandon, Florida. His picture books include COWBOY CHRISTMAS (Golden Books/Random House) and OUTER SPACE BEDTIME RACE (Random House Books for Young Readers). HarperCollins has acquired two of Rob's books about Ruby Rose--the first will come out in 2016. And be on the lookout for RODZILLA coming soon from Simon & Schuster.